It’s out folks. Windows XP Service Pack 3 is now readily available from Windows Update. Expect bug fixes and even a slight performance boost.

Details of some of the changes can be found here.

It’s a bit light on the feature side, though. It’s too bad they didn’t add at least 1 of the 18 features Windows doesn’t have. Sure some of them are already available via third party apps, but it’d just be nice to have them baked into the OS already.

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is finally available for public consumption. Microsoft intended for a mid-March public release and they delivered. The list of changes is quite hefty and very much appreciated.

You can download it from Microsoft’s site.

I’ve installed it and it’s been fine.

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is just around the corner (even sooner than you think) and now, so is Windows XP Service Pack 3. Microsoft released Service Pack 3 Release candidate 2 for public testing earlier this week.

Fixes include the usual hotfixes and performance improvements. As for features, here’s a sample:

- Microsoft’s Network Access Protection (NAP) support
- ‘keyless activation’ - Allows IT administrators to install SP3 without entering product keys for each copy

Other than the above, don’t expect Service Pack 3 to be as significant as Service Pack 2.

Well, it’s final. Microsoft’s much hated Windows Vista now has its first service pack. Service pack 1 was released to manufacturing yesterday, February 4th, 2008. Unfortunately, the rest of the world will be receiving the service pack mid-March Amongst the usual performance, usability and stability enhancements, I noticed this thoughtful change to help out idiots:

(more…)